The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R Tolkien, is a fantasy novel that takes place in a mythological world called Middle Earth. The book emphasizes the influence of power and how it can take hold in even the kindest of humans. The book starts off in a simpleton area called the Shire. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, who is having his 111th birthday at his house. Hobbit’s are short, but humble as seen later on in the book. Bilbo, during the party, vanishes, using a ring that he found in The Hobbit, also made by J.R.R Tolkien. In short, he finds a special ring in a cave that can make him invisible. Bilbo vanishes to get away from the party to go and leave, however is stopped by Gandalf. Gandalf, interested by the ring, forces Bilbo to give the ring to his nephew Frodo. Frodo then embarks on a long journey to Rivendell with some of his friends. When he arrives, he is summoned to a council about the ring. He finds out that the ring is the One Ring which the antagonists of the story, Sauron, created. The ring, while not powerful with Frodo or Bilbo, is extremely powerful in the hands of Sauron, which the council agrees is not desirable. The only way to destroy the ring, according to the council, is to throw the ring into Mount Doom where it was created. The problem is, Mount Doom is right in the middle of Sauron’s territory. However, they create the Fellowship of the Ring which includes Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Boromir, Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli. They embark on a mission that takes them to Argonath where they split up and Boromir is killed. This is where The Fellowship of the Ring which is later followed up by The Two Towers and The Return of the King. This book is filled with excellent storytelling and vivid imagery. Although not as much action, it gives a lot in depth about the world that characters live in, with its own history and lore. Throughout the story, the ring is described as all powerful and corrupting. Throughout the mission, Boromir begins to develop thoughts of wanting to use the ring himself even though he was a great person as he sacrificed himself for Merry and Pippin. It’s clear Tolkien is trying to push about power corrupting and how it causes the worst in people to appear. This message has a lot of real life application considering the state of a lot of mass corporations and such. Even in our history, places like China had huge problems with corruption issues. I agree with the message of the story, because corruption is a problem that has no easy fix, and the only fix would be to change humans themselves. Funny enough, this is what hobbits are symbolised as; they are humble and don’t care for power, which is why they are able to take the rings without as much burden. They are like greater beings, which we should strive to be. For example in Revenge of the Sith, the senate becomes absolutely corrupt and the Supreme Chancellor manages to become an Emperor. George Lucas, who created Revenge of the Sith has a similar mindset to Tolkien of which both ideas I agree with. The takeaway from The Fellowship of the Ring is that people should be kind and humble and that you should try to resist the lust for power. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien was a fantastic book, and I can’t wait to read more about the story.
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